The present disclosure relates to well systems, and more particularly to controlling flow in well systems.
It is often desirable to control fluid flow into the completion string of a well system, for example, to balance inflow of fluids along the length of the well. For instance, some horizontal wells have issues with the heel-toe effect, where gas or water cones in the heel of the well and causes a difference in fluid influx along the length of the well. The differences in fluid influx can lead to premature gas or water break through, significantly reducing the production from the reservoir. Inflow control devices (ICD) can be positioned in the completion string at heel of the well to stimulate inflow at the toe and balance fluid inflow along the length of the well. In another example, different zones of the formation accessed by the well can produce at different rates. ICDs can be placed in the completion string to reduce production from high producing zones, and thus stimulate production from low or non-producing zones. Finally, ICDs can be used in other circumstances to balance or otherwise control fluid inflow.